"My Lord?
Dinner is ready, shall I serve you here?" asked the petite and awe-strikingly beautiful woman whose bodily and facial features left her appearing otherworldly.
Dressed in formal black suit attire with a coat of arms representing the noble House she served over her left breast on the coat, with a clean white silk shirt underneath, the ageless woman glided forward to her seated Lord making nary a sound in her light-coloured high heel shoes.
Baring her bright ocean blue eyes at the sole man seated before her, who peered out into the vast landscape views of the first place he'd accepted as home, whereas it now became home for many more.
Noticing her Lord lost in his thoughts, the young woman thought best to call out once more but stopped just as another spoke.
"Please, if you don't mind Milly.
I do hope you'll join me this evening, for I have a few thoughts weighing heavily on my mind as they may affect the daily norm for the people.
*Sigh*… It appears our time bound here is coming to an end if I'm correct…" said the man with unruly dark hair that could never be settled, even after the countless years of trying to find a solution.
Both Magical and not.
He'd come to long accept his messy head of hair as a trait they'd never get rid of, though it meant much more to him in reality.
It was one of the last vestiges passed down from his father and ancestry to represent their family when their society often saw them as nothing more than their family names characteristic.
For those fools from the society who saw them as nothing more than the dirt on the ground, the family with unruly hair continued to prevail and charge at the forefront of any chaos or war, leading the charge and change for their people without much of a thanks in return.
Even so, they continued to aid those unable to provide for themselves, long becoming the beacons of change and power.
Though for the man with dark messy hair and sparkling emerald, green eyes reminiscent of his mother's own, power was one thing that never truly interested him besides protecting those who he loved or cared for.
Unfortunately for a man like him, overwhelming power found itself in his grasp at the cost of a greater responsibility which saw the loss of those who he held dear.
Yet those thoughts of grief from the past were strongly kept under lock and key, rather than resting on the surface of one's thoughts.
.
Sitting down to the side of her Lord, Milly reflexively waved two fingers over the table as various dishes, salads, and deserts appeared out of thin air and spread out across the white tablecloth.
Cutlery, two glasses and a plate came before the two occupants, only for Milly to distribute the food while her Lord continued to look out at the stunning view that never appeared to get old from his dear office.
"Milly… you don't appear all too concerned with what I just said.
Are you not worried what I meant by 'our time bound here' or unable to comprehend what I meant?
Please tell me it's not the latter?" laughed the emerald eyed man with a questioning glint.
Leaning back into his seat, the man's wide and muscular body frame hide itself behind the exquisitely tailor-made black suit, detailed with grey pinstripe stitching.
"*Sigh* My Lord, you arrived in our world centuries ago and saw to its revival, including Magic's rebirth, a fact still unimaginable for so many to believe that in the beginning it was considered a tale sold by the Magi Government.
Honestly, I haven't seen this sort of paranoia for conspiracies by the public since the early days of the War to End All.
Even then we weren't hysterical as death awaited us…"
.
For a second, Milly's mind brought images of the past to the forefront, where she witnessed war, death, destruction, and bloodshed to a level no other sort of war in humankind history could ever match in equal.
It also saw to the end of humanity and life altogether, all beginning when wizarding kind revealed themselves to the masses during a time of heavy public turmoil and prejudice.
Humanity began to blame wizarding kind for their social issues, and health problems, including cost of living for some odd reason.
Magical products and items quickly became known to the masses, such as Blood Replenishment potions, and Skele-gro, creating a greater division amongst the two societies.
Sadly, the hate wasn't naturally occurring but fuelled by certain influential members of non-magical society, further hoping to establish their might over magic for themselves.
This started first by a series of kidnappings and hunting's of magically gifted people and beings when possible.
Wizarding kind tried to fight back, coming upon different raids for magical people and beings, but against unlimited funding and militaries from nations around the world, it quickly delved into a major conflict guaranteed to bring the end of humanity.
Yet through the powers of the black suited man with green eyes, the world itself and its magic was saved.
It all changed for Milly when she awoke from the deep sleep her old Master left her and her brethren in, only to find themselves bound to the Magiks of a powerful wizard who brought back her first home to its original beauty.
Hogwarts.
During the war, it became a refugee for the last of wizarding kind to escape from the non-magical trying to hunt them down for experimentation or extermination.
Many of the old wizardry schools around the world became the last vestiges of wizard kind but they all fell in time to minds who believed themselves smarter than the laws of life and death.
A backlash of raw magic saw to the deaths of the last wizards and witches, including the young, when they sought to bind magic in a way to draw life from magical beings to prolong their life in stasis.
Unfortunately for them all, Lady Magic, and her sentient energy of creation, chose to not see her jewels of magical wonder and delight die, instead forsaking the last of wizarding kind to perish for their foolishness.
One might believe this to be a fool hardy mistake made by Lady Magic in haste, yet the appearance of the man with green eyes saw to changing the status quo that long saw to the ruin of the world long ago.
Continuing, Milly said, "When you made yourself known to us and awoke my kind from the stasis ward employed by our last Master, you became the person we all trusted wholeheartedly and believe to not end that you will lead us, no matter where it takes us.
Especially after freeing us all from the bonds of the ancient curse which saw us becoming nothing more than slaves to those who believed themselves at the pinnacle of Mother Magic's blessing.
No matter when you leave or where you must go next, we shall forever act be your side My Lord.
I shall continue to stand beside you, in this world of ours and those we shall come upon in the future.
All that I ask for the people who trust you so dearly and myself, is that you let us know when we must prepare for our next journey beyond."
The green-eyed man chose not to reply immediately to Milly, with his mind already elsewhere, focused on times of the past since he'd arrived in this world.
…
..
.
Fighting against the servants and followers of the man who'd ruined his life from infancy, a misfire of magic saw the green-eyed man with messy hair to leave his plane of existence and stand before the primordial being of Death.
It was at that point the young man knew he'd left behind all that he loved and held dear, just because one man believed himself to know better.
But over the countless years, he'd come to realise that very same man had befallen to the same curse all those who gained power and authority far too quickly, without true personal loss and constant grounding to keep themselves from overarching.
The belief they knew how to control the society they lived within to follow a steady path, rather than shaping it in preparation for future generations to improve upon always left Harry baffled, but he couldn't do much about it now.
It mattered next to nothing in front of the being known as Death, since she had plenty of tasks and responsibilities for the man to fulfill that he truly never had the time to focus on past events, which in no way could be altered, or that he knew so far.
Unable to truly grieve in his death for the life he'd suddenly lost, the man ended up training as Lady Death wished, learning how to fight with all sorts of weapons possibly conceivable, fighting hand to hand with all manners of masters who'd found themselves in Death's Domain.
The education easily trumped all he'd learnt at the ancient wizarding school during his lifetime since Death and its servants could summon all manners of teachers and educators at will.
This saw legends and myths coming at Death's beckoning to further the emerald eyed man's education in all fields.
There wasn't a method to track the time passed training in Death's Domain, but once the man felt ready to leave and take on his own tasks, he was well prepared to face any sort of challenge or trial that'd show itself.
Whilst serving Death, the man found all sorts of rewards through his travels, storing different goods from the multiverse of creation into magical artifacts of his own craft.
His main task was to ensure the reaping of souls passing onto the next life, and helping children understand their fate so they wouldn't tether themselves to the place of their death, forever left behind to suffer.
However, taking the time out to discover new products and items he never would have seen in his normal life before death quickly became a guilty pleasure of the job.
In his countless years of service, an accumulation of weapons of all manner, countless books, and recorded knowledge in various forms took up only a portion of everything gathered during the journey throughout eternity.
However, at a point in time, Death decided to change his duties and presented a world all too familiar to the man, though it was far from its initial beauty and forms of life, now long gone with whispers left of their initial existence.
"This is a world much too similar to your own, child…
Sadly, Fate has already sung its final note for this world and its inhabitants… to a point, leaving it free from interference.
Consider it a test I will evaluate later in time, as its responsibility will be in your care for the foreseeable future.
None shall impede you in your task, that I promise you child.
So, fix this world at your pleasure, and return the power stripped away at the hubris of others.
Only when you believe everything is completed to the best of your ability, call on me child." Said Lady Death, waving her right hand over the dead world in an uncaring manner.
"It is done…
I have left some small rewards and gifts behind for you to learn and find, though they are only there to make your work slightly easier in the beginning, not a crutch to take hold off and bare your weight down in submission.
My belief in your character won't see such actions come to light, but if they do, there will be no kind words or actions from me, child."
There wasn't much the emerald green-eyed man could do but nod in agreement with Death, who simply left to deal with other tasks or duties.
It was from that point forward the emerald green-eyed man stumbled his way through the days, tracing back the events leading to the worlds end according to Fate's determination.
Through the higher deity, the man learnt much about the 'War to End All' after coming across the ruins of a military outpost on the outskirts of a largely destroyed London, as it was the closest place to his spawning point.
Fury filled the man when he learnt of a war between non-magical's and those magically gifted from reading the remains of newspapers hoarded by the last vestiges of humankind.
Most buildings were left to ruin, though more so due to the acts of war rather than the effects of time.
However enough of the land was saved from complete destruction, but it all found itself protected by the stasis charm, a gift left behind by Death to save parts of the world for the man to discover and understand the circumstances which led to the end of the world.
Taking his time to travel building to building, collecting all that he could without disturbing the homes of the unjustly killed and sending their souls to the afterlife if they remained behind, led only to an extended period of time to fully understand the chaos caused by the reveal of wizard kind and magic to the masses during a time of global social unrest.
According to all the information he'd discovered after several months of intense searching, the public were led to believe one thing while the rich and influential few were directing the world resources to fuel their own desires.
A few progressive Half-blood and Mundane-born witches and wizards believed it was wise to introduce potions to the common masses, not knowing it was bound to cause scientific minds to question how someone could regrow their bones within a few nights or replenish their own blood with nothing more than an unknown liquid.
The highly rich and influential rushed to find the secret to the potions, hoping to recreate the recipe and process for themselves, but found nothing.
Eventually this led to further enquires led by the rich and greedy, though it didn't show any sort of result until one such powerful family were able to secure a position in great political power.
Leading the United States of America as its President, a man bound more to his family than to his nation discovered the secrecy regarding the Wizarding World.
Soon, kidnappings, assassinations, murders, abductions, and much more became far more prevalent amongst wizarding kind until a raid by the non-magical government from the United Kingdom was leaked to a young wizard studying at Hogwarts.
The then Headmistress, Professor Minerva McGonagall, was informed one evening by the young wizard from a Mundane-born family, whose own brother was going to take part in the raid.
Hearing of the impending attack, Professor McGonagall informed the Ministry of Magic and any other who could either partake in the defence during the raid or save others by moving them to secure locations.
While wizarding kind were able to save themselves from the raid operation, it unfortunately led to a greater number of attacks against the wizarding world, which slowly became more and more public through media coverage and manipulation.
This helped spurn hatred and discourse amongst the common people who knew next to nothing regarding wizarding kind, and now became adamant on removing them all from the face of the earth.
Sadly, this only fuelled the magically gifted to develop some truly amazing, yet devastating magic capable of grand levels of mass destruction.
A war that extended across the globe saw the deaths of hundreds of millions within a short few years until what remained of wizarding kind secured themselves in powerful magically warded residences.
Not knowing anymore information related to wizarding kind and their fate through the non-magical, it became the opportune moment to investigate further into the magical world and its society before it came crashing down.
The green-eyed man chose to search in the one place he knew better than any other and considered his true home above all else.
Hogwarts.
Sadly, his arrival wasn't anything like he'd expected or hoped when returning to the one place he desired to find peace within.
For all his time training and working for Lady Death, the emerald eyed man always thought of his home and friends he had long considered his family, when his own were taken away from him at infancy.
However, upon arriving at the boundary of the castle wards, which just happened to be active at their war time settings, the man noticed the magic in the surroundings was draining at an astonishing rate by the castle to keep itself from crumbling apart.
The wards required most of the power, but the rest went to maintaining the castle and lands around it to an extent.
Not one to waste time gazing around needlessly, the man got to work, and examined the wards intently, trying to find a way into the castle lands.
He needed to make his way to the wardstone so the castle and its lands would fall under his control.
Without it, ambient magic remaining in the air and exuded naturally by the earth would continue to be drained at an alarming rate till none was left to sustain the wards of castle nor the items within.
Thankfully all the studying whilst in Death's Domain taught the man all he needed to know for Hogwarts wartime wards to be nothing more than a small nuisance.
His own magic made the path through the wards nothing more than a simple stroll through a slightly oppressive magical atmosphere trying to push him away.
Eventually it gave way and left him through, though only due to realising the man's magical signature felt rather familiar.
While not inside the castle walls, the land itself told the man enough to enter through a hidden entrance preserved for a select few to possibly use.
However, as he came closer to the castle, a sinister presence could be felt haunting the castle, twisting the harmonic aura of Hogwarts into one of fear, anger, and danger.
It didn't take long for Death's chosen to notice the sensation came from souls disturbed by their spiritual forms being tethered to the castle, unable to find rest in the afterlife.
Typically, the souls tethered to the earth largely appeared like those who roamed the halls of Hogwarts from his schooling days, however the current ones bound inside the castle were corrupted terribly, like the backlash from a magical ritual caused their suffering as 'payment'.
Upon arriving at the front door of the castle, the emerald eyed man noticed the heavy inscriptions warding the doors shut from the inside, though he wasn't worried about being unable to enter.
Rather he opted to use one of the many different methods of transportation via magic, taught to him whilst training under Death's servants.
Focusing on the memories from his past wandering through the castle, combined with his own version of a silent apparition, allowed for seamless movement into the entrance hall of Hogwarts, nearby the Great Hall.
The man couldn't help but thank his educators for diligently instructing him in a range of subjects and fields to realise the active wards employed by the castle were actively binding wayward souls to drain and empower the wardstone.
To first find yourself tethered to the earthly plane caused by immense grief and suffering was more than enough to torment most souls after plenty of years, yet the wards accelerated the process of their fall into madness, by draining away the natural power exuded by souls for its own use.
While he hadn't died in the service of Lady Death per say so far, the man wasn't willing to ever test Fate or the very foundation of his current existence, to ever experience such a reckoning on his soul.
For now, he began to move quickly through the halls and rooms of the castle, drawing the tormented souls to his position by flowing his magic around his body, expressed through a Patronus charm, before banishing their souls to the afterlife to find peace and rest.
Never one to find solace in taking the souls of the unfortunate to the afterlife, yet the man found peace gifting the tormented souls a chance at rest in the afterlife, having witnessed the end of their society and people in the harshest of ways wasn't easily forgotten or overcome.
He hadn't taken the time out to speak with the tormented souls, but the man noticed many felt the weight of their last decisions before death, anguishing over the action leading to their souls being tethered and tormented by the twisted magic.
For now though, no souls of children or students of Hogwarts were found tormented or corrupted after death thankfully, but the man knew there was a chance for the worst possibility.
As it turned out, he was right after entering the dormitory to House Slytherin, with the beds in the chambers all full of bodies left to decay at Lady Magics mercy.
In this case, the magical requirement of the castle and the warding array setup by the last magically gifted saw to the bodies being used to supply Hogwarts with magical energy.
Skeletons remained in the beds of the children who were the last of their kind to exist, yet the man felt thankful none of the children's souls were bound to the castle or earth.
As it were, the other dormitories had skeletal remains of children left in the beds, with none binding their souls behind, however the man came across a peculiar addition to the castle he wasn't aware of in the past.
When searching through the kitchen after going through Hufflepuffs dormitory, the man found the entrance to Helga's own private chambers, much like those of Salazar.
Using the stairs leading under the castle from the kitchen, the man discovered Helga happened to be a Beast-speaker, a person able to understand and speak to nearly every creature with enough practise and training.
Just the knowledge Helga Hufflepuff had such a strong ability made the man question events from his own past and those considered family.
He didn't bother to waste long on his past, and instead continued to clean up the sinister presence within the walls of Hogwarts, before choosing to dare enter Helga's private chambers.
The man wasn't aware how long it took him to clear the castle of the sinister presence, but by the time he cleared the seventh floor and made his way towards the Room of Requirement, there wasn't much to do besides reaching the wardroom.
Thankfully it was accessible through the Room of Requirement, which made it easy for the man to bind Hogwarts to his magical core and magiks, strengthening the wardstone and those empowered through its connection.
Waves of magical energy burst forth from the wardstone as a pulse, repairing the damage to the castle and renewing rune schemes to return Hogwarts back to his prime condition and state.
It was only after this moment the man stopped to recount the decisions he'd made since entering the castle, including what he found.
Summoning one of the souls he'd freed through his charge to cleanse Hogwarts, the man found himself back in the Room of Requirement, with two seats present and a table to separate them apart.
Most would wonder why the man chose to summon a seat for a soul without a physical body, yet a special trait of the man allowed him to gift summoned souls the ability to take physical shape for a time.
And the man thanked Lady Death silently for the ability as it eased the first encounter with one of the souls he'd recently freed from its tether to Hogwarts, yet in the domain of death, time was relative.
"Oh Merlin… is that truly you?" asked the elderly woman wearing red and gold proudly with her spectacle leaning off the ridge of her nose.
Smirking, the man with emerald, green eyes looked back at his summoned guest, presenting a glass of tea with a wave of his hand.
"Ayy it's me, Aunt Minnie."
"Oh, Harry…" cried Minerva McGonagall, utterly amazed and distraught by the fact who sat before her, in a world where nothing should exist anymore.